At Vida Fitness, we love helping junior athletes develop in their chosen sport. As many of you may know, we have junior athletes from a variety of sports training with us, and we develop sport-specific training sessions being developed.
We are very fortunate to have Jo-Anne Karaitiana on our team who not only has a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science and a Masters in Strength and Conditioning, but she is a High-Performance Tennis Coach. Having worked with elite junior tennis players, she programs and implements individual programs specific to the athlete’s needs in tennis.
Strength & Conditioning for Junior Tennis Players
Over the past years at Vida, we have been asked numerous times about strength training for junior tennis players. Working with young players, it is important to get the right balance of training on and off the court.
Strength is the key building block for physical development and in turn tennis development eg. Speed, power, mobility, agility, flexibility etc). Junior tennis players need to ensure they get stronger and have a balanced body to not only improve performance but to prevent injuries. For junior tennis players to get the most out of their training and development, the building blocks of a stable body must be developed. This is critical for long-term success!
A player’s Strength and Conditioning program are designed for athletes to ensure the fundamental movement are established and developed. These include
- Squat, Hinge, Push, Pull, Lunge and Rotate
All exercise prescriptions are bodyweight or very low resistances through therabands, dumbells, kettlebells, medicine balls etc until each individual player can demonstrate the capacity to perform the exercise with proper technique. The focus is:
- Dynamic and tennis-specific warm up with concentration on good technique and body awareness (theraband work included)
- Footwork and movement patterns – efficiency with tennis-specific change of direction
- Basic strength and stability
- Improving mobility & flexibility
- Coordination- connecting the upper and lower body
- Reaction and anticipation
- Balance and stability
- Prehabilitation based on known predisposition to injuries that tennis players will likely encounter throughout their adolescents and beyond
Performing these basic fundamental strength exercises on a regular basis will give young tennis players a great platform to build on in the future. It is the best way to educate them on good functional biomechanics and help prevent tennis injuries. Developing and strengthening these movements will enable junior players to move better, have more power and recover more effectively. It is especially important for young athletes to understand and be consciously aware of these movement patterns. When athletes start to lift weights, not having these fundamentals engrained can be detrimental to long-term success and increase the chance of injury.
As the athlete develops, so do their Strength & Conditioning needs, loads and program specifics.
Gym Membership & S&C Program
There are two program options for Tennis players coming into our program. The first place to start is with the Gym Membership & S&C Program which gives athletes a gym membership, their program on the Teambuildr APP that is updated every four to six weeks as well as a 45min PT Session weekly. There is also Vida team member on the floor to help with your training during listed trainer hours.
When the athlete is ready, the follow on program is the Gym Membership & Programming membership.
To view all the program information and registration Click Here
